


Fine

by Fyre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-06
Updated: 2012-12-06
Packaged: 2017-11-20 11:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/585115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fyre/pseuds/Fyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No matter what anyone else did, Belle knew she was fine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fine

Belle didn't like to make a fuss.

So many people had problems that it didn't seem fair to make people worry even more. 

All the same, when David came and released her from the chains in the library, when he unlocked the cuff, when she was free, she hadn't been able to stop the tears. She lied - it was easy - saying it was relief that Ruby was safe, and that no one else had been killed. He believed her, because everyone knew that Belle was good and sweet and didn't lie.

She lied, though, and she lied well.

Rumpelstiltskin was angry enough when he realised she had been locked away for all the years they had been in Storybrooke. He was furious when she told him about her padded cell with the locked door. She could only imagine how much more terrible his fury would be if he ever found out about her prison in the forest.

It was worse there, much worse.

The first thing she remembered in Storybrooke, after the Saviour must have arrived, was watching the marks left by her shackles slowly healing. It was like a new kind of magic, and in the cell, there was nothing else to do but watch them as they healed and slowly faded away.

They weren't gone, not completely, but they were faint enough that no one would notice unless they really looked.

It didn't take much skill to stop people from noticing. She didn't wear jewellery to draw attention to her wrists, her nails were painted to catch the eye instead. When she talked to people, she hid her hands in her lap, and she knew for a fact that Rumpelstiltskin tended to keep his eyes on her face at all times, as if burning her image into his memory, as if he could hardly believe she was there.

No one noticed the marks.

When she was alone, she would find herself tracing them with her fingertips. She would sit with a book in her left hand and the fingertips of her right would idly brush against the marks on her left wrist. The fact they were there was a testament to her imprisonment and a reminder of her current wonderful freedom.

That was all they were until the night Ruby chained her.

The nightmares had never really gone away, but that night, they crowded in on her like shadows and she woke, soaked with sweat and shaking like a leaf in the wind. She didn't scream. She never screamed. She had learned long ago that screaming did nothing, not when you were alone in the dark with only the moonlight for company. 

She stumbled from her bed. The bedding was soft, the sheets smooth, the mattress comfortable, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to be sure she was free. She threw open the window, letting the cold air blast her, then ran to the door, opening it wide. It wasn't locked. It wasn't locked, and she could still come and go as she willed.

Belle sank down in the open doorway, leaning against the frame, and wrapped each hand around the opposite wrist, to remind herself the chains were gone. They were gone and she was free. The tears were hot and made her eyes sting and she pressed her mouth to the back of one hand to keep any sound from escaping. 

She didn't sleep for the rest of the night. The best she could do was wrap herself in a blanket and sit in the doorway and try to keep the nightmares of closed doors and chains and isolation at bay.

By morning, she was stiff and sore and pale.

She made her way down to the library, covering arms and legs with trousers and a sweater that hid everything about her that was an unwanted reminder. It was better to lose herself in tidying and cataloguing than trying to think about anything. Cleaning was good. Her mind could switch off and she could just get on with things.

She heard the creak of the front doors a couple of hours after she set to work, and emerged from the stacks, setting down the books she was sorting through. Ruby was standing there, by the door, twisting her hands together.

Belle curled her fingers, dragging her sleeves down enough to cover her hands. "Hi," she said with a small, taut smile. "You'll be here for your chains."

"I-I wanted to apologise," Ruby said, fiddling with her gloves. 

Belle looked at her placidly. "You wanted to keep me safe," she said.

"Belle, I shouldn't have..."

"No," Belle agreed. "You shouldn't. But you did." She walked to the collections desk and lifted the shackles up onto the counter, releasing them as quickly as she could and stepping back. Ruby approached cautiously. Like a wary animal, Belle though wearily. Ironic.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly.

Belle looked across the desk at her. "I've been chained up before," she said, her voice surprising her with its steadiness. "For a long time."

Ruby looked stricken. "Belle, I didn't know. I wanted you to be safe."

Belle clasped her hands together. "And chaining me keeps me safe?"

Ruby paled, and her hands trembled as she picked the chains up. "I thought it would."

Belle nodded slowly. "Don't do it again, okay?" she said, trying to smile. "I-I don't like it."

"Of course," Ruby said urgently. "I promise."

Belle's hands were shaking, but she squeezed them more tightly together to hide it. "Good," she said. She managed a quick, careful smile again. "I have to get back to work. The shelves won't organise themselves."

Ruby looked at the chains in her hands, then back at Belle. "Are..." She looked lost, uncertain. "Are we okay?"

Belle's smile came more surely. It was the same smile she had given the Sheriff the night before. "Of course," she said. "You didn't know." She shook her head, still smiling. "I'm fine."

Ruby smiled tentatively, then turned and left, taking the chains with her. She paused at the door, then closed it behind her.

Belle unclasped her hands. Her palms stung where her nails had bitten into them.

She was fine. She was free. She was unbound. She had a library. Her true love loved her. A few nightmares could be put aside. She was fine. She was.


End file.
